Angel Investigations: The Next Generation
by baby-cthulhu
Summary: This takes place in 2009. Connor, Spike and Nina have banded together to keep up the good fight.
1. A New Destiny

Angel Investigations: The Next Generation

Episode 1: A New Destiny

Teaser

Los Angeles, 2009

After the fight with Wolfram and Hart, the news of Angel's disappearance had hit Connor hard. But he knew that he had to make a life for himself after college. Connor decided to follow in his father's footsteps and reopen Angel Investigations in the very same building where Angel, Cordelia and Doyle first started. Connor had a tough time getting started. With the help of Spike and Nina, Connor was able to steady his feet on the ground and run a pretty thriving business as a private investigator.

As Connor propped his feet and read, light foot steps made their way to the door of Angel Investigations. The sound of the creaking door hinges didn't detour Connor from the book that he was engrossed in. "Keeping busy?" Connor looked up from the page to see Nina standing in front of him. She was a very beautiful young woman. The light shown through her light blonde hair. Connor could see in her what Angel had felt for her. Connor turned his wrist and looked at the watch that he was wearing and then directed his attention back to Nina.

"You're cutting it close." By the tone in his voice Nina could tell that he wasn't that worried.

"A half an hour until sunset isn't cutting it close. I'm just fashionably early."

"At least you're not fashionably late." Connor laid the book down on the front desk and lead Nina down to the underground apartment. Connor wasn't a full blown vampire, but the apartment was just fine for the twenty four year old to keep his privacy, and to keep Nina locked up during the full moon. Connor and Nina headed to the cage that Connor had installed in the sewers to house Nina during the change that she experienced every full moon. Nina made her way into the steel cage and Connor put a pad lock on the door behind her and then another lock after that. He figured that he'd rather be safe than sorry.

The monthly routine had gotten to Connor. He put his hands on the cage and he could feel his lungs fill up with air as he took a deep breath. Connor could feel the soft touch of Nina's hands as she put them on top of his. "Don't worry, everything will be alright." Nina was trying to comfort Connor, but she could tell that all of her efforts weren't working. Connor slipped his fingers out from underneath her's and headed back up the entrance to the apartment. Nina sighed as she watched Connor's feet disappear to the apartment above. She felt a deep sinking feeling. Nina knew that what happened had affected Connor deeply, but she didn't know the extent of his pain. "Like father, like son," she whispered under her breath. Nina began to disrobe. The whole werewolf thing did a number on her clothes if she didn't take them off.

Connor grabbed a bottle of water before starting up the stairs to the offices of Angel Investigations. After he took a drink, Connor noticed a familiar face. "Hello, Spike." Spike lifted his eyes off of the newspaper that he was looking at. Spike never really read the newspaper. All the articles were about some corrupt celebrity or the violence that had plagued the streets of Los Angeles as long as Spike could remember.

"Done tucking Wolfgirl into her cage?" Connor just gave Spike a look of frustration, and then pushed Spike's feet off of the table. As Connor looked at Spike, he saw the vampire fidget in his seat. "Well...?"

"No."

"Oh bollocks, like you even know what I'm going to ask." Spike only got a little pissed off that Connor dismissed his question before he even got to finish asking it.

"You were going to ask if I found out any information on why the Senior Partners decided to keep you alive and slaughter everyone else. And just like I told you a million times before, I haven't figured out anything. As soon as I do I will inform you, but for now, your guess is as good as mine." Connor sat in one of the chairs just in front of the desk and took another drink of his water. Spike continued to pretend to read the newspaper, while Connor went back to reading his book. The two of them sat in silence until the familiar creaking of the door interrupted their 'quality' time together.

Connor looked up to see that a young woman had entered the offices. Her black hair was made a little bit livelier by the hot pink streaks scattered throughout. By the look of her Connor guessed that she was a raver. "Is this Angel Investigations?" Her voice shook as she inquired about the offices.

"Don't you have eyes?" Spike said with a bit of irritation in his voice.

Connor got up from his seat and then whispered to the vampire. "Not now, Spike." Connor then directed his attention to the young woman. "You've come to the right place." Connor moved to the side so that the girl could have a clear path to sit down in one of the chairs. "Why don't you sit down and we'll take care of your needs." The young woman did as Connor suggested.

The girl just sat there a few seconds and didn't say any thing. Connor could tell that she was spooked. To Connor's surprise, Spike took the initiative. "My name is William and this is Connor. And you are?" The girl looked up at the two men and laughed nervously.

"My name is Sarah Wyatt. Ummm... The last couple of days I feel like some one has been following me. I just...." Sarah paused to collect her thoughts. "Whenever I walk home from a friend's house or take a walk on the promenade, I see a guy following me. I'm not sure who he is, but he gives me the major creeps."

"_We major in the creeps..." _Spike thought to himself. "Can you describe the guy who's following you?" Spike took a pad of paper from the front drawer of the desk and started to write down everything that Sarah said.

"The only thing that really stood out about him was three scars on his face. They looked as if they were made by some sort of animal. He had light blonde hair, and he was a little over six feet tall." The girl paused while she tried to think about any more distinguishing characteristics. Connor watched as Spike took down everything that Sarah said. After a while, he became lost in thought.

Act 1

Los Angeles, 2004

As the steady rhythm of the windshield wipers were going back and fourth Connor found himself sitting in Nina's driveway. He felt the butterflies in his stomach going full speed. The nervousness that He felt caused him to begin to thump his fingers on the steering wheel. He had no idea how to explain to Nina what had happened. He took one final deep breath and took the keys out of the ignition. He felt the rain starting to come down on him as he stepped out of his parents' SUV. He stood in front of the door for a few moments after ringing the doorbell. As she opened the door, the light from inside poured out onto Connor.

"May I help you?" Nina asked.

Connor looked through his rain soaked hair and saw a young woman in her twenties standing inside. Connor could only guess that Nina was the woman who was standing before him.

"I need to talk to you." Connor paused taking a deep breath. He was having a hard time with the cold and the news that he had to break to Nina. "It's about Angel." Nina felt her heart beating inside her chest at the mention of Angel's name.

"Come in." Connor felt relieved to be out of the rain, but that feeling quickly went away when he saw the worried look on Nina's face. "Hold on a sec." She went into the hallway and paused as she got a towel from one of the shelves. She knew that Angel had pushed her away for some reason, but he never told her what it was. A sinking feeling began to grow in Nina's stomach. She knew that the news that Connor had come to tell her wasn't going to be good.

Spike looked in from one of the main windows as Nina brought Connor a towel. He knew that the next few moments were going to be intense. Spike had felt the same way when he broke the news to Connor. Emotions had been running high for weeks after the fight with the Senior Partners. Spike still had many unanswered questions himself. Why had he been the only survivor? Wolfram and Hart had gone through so much trouble to take down the team and then just left him alone. Spike stood out in the rain. He could see that Nina's tears were coming down just as hard as the rain. He knew at that moment that Nina had truly cared for Angel. Then he wondered about how Buffy would react. Would she even cry for Angel? Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies had abandoned them.

"Connor." Spike gave the boy a bit of a shove to stop him from daydreaming and to concentrate. Connor read the notes that Spike had taken and then shifted his attention back to Sarah.

"I'll go out and see if I can't find anything on this guy." Connor shifted his attention back to Spike. "Will she be alright here?"

"Sure." Spike replied. "I'll just play babysitter." Connor wasted no time; he grabbed his coat, opened the top drawer of the file cabinet and slipped a stake suspiciously into one of its pockets. After going out into the frigid air, he decided to put on his coat. It didn't take Connor long to get to the club. He could hear the steady pulse of the music as he pulled into a parking space. After turning off the engine, Connor made his way into the club to meet his informant. Connor always arranged meetings in crowded places, just so the bitch didn't try any thing. Connor entered the club and made his way through the crowd. The people swayed to the beat not knowing about the dangers that surrounded them. Connor then sat down at the bar.

The bartender made his way over. "How can I help you?"

"Whiskey."

"I.D., first." Connor took out his wallet and showed the bartender his driver's license.

"So you still get carded." A cold voice drifted over the noise of the club and into Connor's ear. He looked to the right of him to see Eve standing there. She looked a lot better since the last time that he saw her. She sat down next to him. The bartender turned his attention to Eve. She lifted her cosmopolitan. "I'm five." The bartender left to get Connor's drink.

"Here." Connor slid a piece of paper into Eve's hands.

"So how long do you think that you can keep these little meetings a secret? Spike or Nina are bound to find out sooner or later." Eve stopped talking until the bartender put down Connor's drink and left. "Being friends with the enemy can be dangerous. Your father found that out the hard way."

"I'm not like my father. It's the whole keep your friends close, but your enemies closer, thing."

"Yeah and 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'. We can throw as many clichés sayings at each other as you want. That won't change the fact that you're hiding things from the people that trust and care for you. And when they find out it will be my ass that they come after. Not yours. My boss doesn't want that to happen."

"Just turn the description into the research department." Eve's eyes widened with surprise as she looked behind her. Whatever made her uncomfortable also made her leave. Connor took a sip of his whiskey and then looked back to see what had made Eve uncomfortable. Spike took the now empty seat next to Connor.

"What was she doing here?"

"For a drink obviously."

"Fine. Why?"

"It's still a free country." Connor took another sip of his whiskey. "What happened to your charge?"

Spike turned around and said, "She's occupied." Connor followed Spike's gaze to see Sarah dancing to the beat of some techno music that the club's DJ was playing. "What were you and Eve talking about, Connor?"

"Stuff it, Spike. Just take care of Sarah. I'm going to see if I can't find any information on her stalker." Connor drained his glass and headed out of the club. Spike watched him as he left. Angel had been able to keep secrets from him as well. Connor could deny it all that he wanted, but he was becoming more and more like his father.

As Connor made his way to his car, he thought about what Eve had said. He knew that he shouldn't lie to Spike and Nina. As he sat in his car waiting for his whiskey to go through his system, he heard a woman scream in the side alleyway of the club. Connor grabbed the stake from his coat and ran to towards the alley. As he turned the corner, Connor saw a gigantic werewolf standing over Spike and Sarah. The vampire stood between the werewolf and Sarah. "Get back inside!!" Spike yelled out. Sarah shook in fear as Spike swung a pipe at the werewolf. After a few swings he landed a hard blow to the jaw of the werewolf.

With the creature's attention directed towards Spike, Connor took his chance and threw his stake into the werewolf's side. The werewolf howled in pains and its baleful eyes turned to Connor. The werewolf growled from deep within its gut. Connor had no idea what to do now; he was unarmed and was faced with a very pissed off werewolf. "Spike, a little help over here!" The werewolf approached Connor, causing him to take a few steps back. Without warning the massive beast howled in pain once more and whipped around. Spike had grabbed the stake and was moving it around in the wound. The werewolf whirled again, flinging Spike into a near by dumpster. Connor found himself pressed against the wall of the club, as the werewolf pushed past him and out of the alley.

"Are you okay?" Sarah helped Connor get to his feet. He could feel the tremor of fear in her hands.

"I'm fine." As he stood in the alleyway, Connor's thoughts turned to Nina. _I thought I locked her up tight. Maybe two locks weren't enough. _He knew that the three of them had to get back to the offices not only to dress their wounds, but to check on Nina.

Act 2

Jason felt the rays of the sun beating down on his face as he awoke underneath a bush. _What happened last night? And where the hell am I?_ As he sat up, Jason could feel something lodged into his side. Then without any warning someone pulled a stake out of his side.

"You were careless, Jason."

Jason looked up at the voice. The rising sun silhouetted the form making it difficult to see. Jason squinted for a few second, trying to adjust to the light. When he could see, his attention was riveted by the three claw marks that marred the man's face. The white scars gleamed in the sunlight.

"Who are you?" Jason quickly rose to his feet and stumbled backwards, falling with a soft thud into the dewy grass. He was weak from the fight the night before.

"You'll know soon enough. Now go to this address." The man gave Jason a calling card.

"Angel Investigations? Why should I go there?"

"You'll find what you're looking for there, but before you go there you might want to get dressed." The man threw a paper bag at Jason and then left. Jason slipped on the clothes that the strange man had given him and then headed back to his home. _I'd better patch up before I start the day. _

Connor could fell his pain lessen as the ice was pressed up against his skin. He felt the aches and pains of the night before when he woke up that morning. After he had gotten changed, he headed upstairs to the office. "So... What are you two reading?" Spike and Nina looked up from the books that they had laid all over the desk.

"Catching up on the big fluffy puppy with bad teeth, is all." Spike looked back down into his book. Connor made his way further into the room and saw Sarah asleep in the office. His attention was averted by the touch of Nina's hand on his shoulder.

"Are you all right?" Nina's concern was echoed in her gaze.

"I'm fine. Just a few cuts and bruises." Connor knew that Nina wanted to know more, but he wasn't ready to share his feelings. "Has anyone told Sarah about what happened last night?" Connor was worried about whether she knew about the supernatural horrors A.I. tackled every night.

"Spike told her that it was a wolf suffering from gigantism."

"What else did you want me to tell her?" Connor rolled his eyes. He made his way to his smaller office, having decided to research in his own way. Eve sounded surprised to hear from Connor again.

"So you still haven't told them?"

"Just give me the information. Stop trying to give me the run-around." Connor had been getting annoyed by Eve's constant prying. Connor knew that Wolfram and Hart couldn't be trusted, but he couldn't afford to have them as an enemy despite what they had done to his family.

"We have no idea who he is; we think he is new in town. This means that it will only take a little longer than usual. Don't worry we'll get your guy."

"Thanks. I appreciate your help, even though I usually don't act like it."

"I know, Connor. I'm not surprised that we are helping each other, after what the Senior Partners did to us." Eve knew that she sounded sappy, but the Senior Partners had taken everything away from her just because she had fallen in love with Lindsey. "I'll call your cell when I find anything."

Jason patched his wound as well as he could. He couldn't figure out where it had come from or how he had gotten outside. As he sat on his bed trying to remember what had happened the night before, Jason heard a knocking on his door. "I'm fine, Patrick," he called out.

"I wasn't worried about you. I just wanted to tell you that your mom called. She wants you to call as soon as possible." Jason listened as his roommate headed away from his bedroom door. He took the Angel Investigations calling card and began to flip it through his fingers. Finally he came to the conclusion that the best way to figure out anything was to follow the clues he's been given. First he had to fulfill is obligations.

As Connor hung up the phone, Nina made her way into the smaller office. "Are you alright, Connor?"

"You don't need to keep asking me that Nina. I told you I'm fine." Connor looked up from the desk. "I know that you're worried about me, but you don't need to be."

"I can't help but be worried. You lock yourself in this office all day, and don't talk to anyone. You barely say two words to me and the few times you do talk to Spike it's about a case you two are working on." Nina knew that Connor was probably not going to pay any attention to her opinion, but she needed to say it. She placed herself in a chair on the other side of Connor's desk.

Connor knew that he had to say something to her. "I know that you feel like you have to take care of me since Angel is gone, but Angel already made sure that I would be taken care of by the Riley's. With the spell that changed my memory, Angel gave me a family. Plus being the child of two vampires has its perks. Why don't you help Spike with the research? It wouldn't hurt to know a little bit more about lycanthropy." Connor opened the drawer of the desk and began to take out the necessary papers that he needed to make up a case file. Seeing that she wasn't going to get anything more out of him. Nina eventually made her way back to the books.

Eve walked through the newly staffed Wolfram and Hart. Things had gotten back to normal after the confrontation with the Senior Partners. The law firm was able to keep the same clients even though it was under new management. Eve was about to head into the lounge when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see one of the people from the research department with a worried look on his face. "What is it Johnson?"

"I think that you need to see this, ma'am." Eve followed Johnson into the head of the research department's office.

Spike watched as Nina came back to the desk defeated. He knew that she cared for Connor. Spike felt the same way. Since Angel was gone, Spike was the closest thing to a blood relative that Connor had. Spike rose from the chair a mere moment before a young man opened the door of the office.

"Sarah, what are you doing here?"

Sarah woke up at the sound of the man's voice. "They were just helping me, Jason."

"Mom is worried sick about you. She even called me looking for you."

Sarah got up from the couch and walked over to Jason. "I just thought that I would get help with my stalker."

"No one is stalking you. Why do you have to be so paranoid?" Jason turned his attention to Spike. "Sorry about all of this. She's always making up stupid stories."

"They aren't stories, Jason. I know that this guy is following me." As the two siblings argued, Spike glanced over to see Connor take an incoming call. _It must be his informant._ Spike could see Connor's expression change as he kept the cell placed to his ear. Spike knew that the news wasn't going to be good.

"I don't think that she is making it up," Nina interrupted. Spike could only hope that she didn't say anything that she shouldn't. "Last night your sister was attacked."

"By what?" Nina watched as Jason began to get red with anger.

"By you." Jason looked in Connor's direction.

"What are you talking about? I would never attack my sister."

"You work for a man named Joseph Webb."

"So? I work in the mailroom of his newspaper. What does it have to do with anything?" Spike wondered what prompted Connor's outburst. He realized that Connor might have better connections than he thought.

"Don't worry Jason everything will become clear in a few seconds." "That's him," screamed Sarah. Joseph Webb stood in the doorway of Angel Investigations.

"Don't worry, Jason. You will serve your purpose." Webb glanced down at his watch, and fingered the edge. He turned to leave. "Good bye, Connor." As Webb pressed a button on his watch, Jason's screams filled the room.

Act 3

With every new scream Jason's body jerked and changed as the inner wolf made itself present. Everyone in the room was frozen. His clothes were ripped as his body increased in size. He let out a howl that filled the room. No one expected his transformation except Connor.

"Spike there's a chip placed at the back of his neck. We have to remove it from Jason so that he will shift down." The claws were so close that Connor could feel the wind of their passing as he went to go and reach for his weapon. He bobbed and weaved as Jason aimed another swipe at his head. Then one of Jason's swings was cut short as a chair smashed into his back. Connor could hear Sarah scream something but he could not make it out over the werewolf's howls. "Nina," Connor yelled over the commotion, "get her downstairs!"

Nina grabbed Sarah and bolted downstairs. Spike threw another piece of furniture at Jason drawing the werewolf's attention. Using all of his strength, Connor jumped onto Jason's back. Connor knew exactly where to reach, because of the information that Eve had given him. But before he could pull the chip free, Jason threw Connor through the window of the lobby. Getting to his feet, he found himself in the hallway of the business building. Webb was nowhere to be seen.

Dashing to the front door of Angel Investigations, Connor saw Spike reaching for the chip on Jason's neck. Connor was about to yell out, when he realized that Jason was sinking under the vampire's weight. As Jason's unconscious body fell to the floor, Connor could see Nina a tranquillizer gun. Connor sighed in relief. When Sarah poke her head around Nina, Connor said, "Don't worry we will help your brother. Nina get a blanket."

Nina handed Spike the tranquillizer gun and headed back down the stairs. "What happened to him?" Sarah's query was edged in tremulous fear.

Connor knew that someone had to tell Sarah the truth. "Spike, stay with her. I'll go and take care of Webb." Connor went out into the sunlight and headed to his car.

Spike stood in the lobby of Angel Investigations. He knew that he couldn't follow, so he figured that he would tell Sarah everything that was happening. No used in telling her a lie, after all.

Nina grabbed a blanket off of Connor's bed, but then hesitated a bit. Connor knew way too much. Spike finished telling Sarah about her brother's condition, and there was still no sign of Nina. Spike headed into Connor's bedroom where he saw Nina lost in thought. "What's wrong with you?"

Nina snapped out of her train of thought and gave Spike her attention. "I was just thinking about Connor. He seemed to get the information that we needed pretty fast. Could he have gotten it all from one phone call?"

Spike just shook his head. "I don't know what that boy has gotten himself into. Hopefully he isn't as thick as Angel was. We should get going, take care of the young ones." The two of them headed back to the two siblings. Nina put the blanket on top of Jason and then found the chip just behind Jason's ear. After pulling it out Jason shifted into his human form. Sarah knelt down next to her brother.

"Will he be all right?" Nina could tell that Sarah was concerned about Jason. Nina could see the closeness between the two.

"He'll be fine, Sarah. All he needs now is rest. Spike, you should probably carry him down to Connor's bed. Sarah, you can help me pick out some clothes for your brother." Spike handed Nina the tranquillizer gun and picked up Jason with the blanket pulled tightly around his body. All of them headed down stairs to help Sarah and her brother.

Connor entered the offices of Wolfram and Hart. He walked as fast as he could to an upstairs conference room. After only a few seconds, Eve hurried to catch up. "You can't do things this way, Connor."

Her voice was as cold as ever, but now it was edged round with scorn and held a touch of apprehension. "You can't just barge in." Connor kicked down the doors of the conference room and found Webb sitting at the head of the table.

"Nice to see you, Connor. How are you?"

Unamused by Webb's lack of reaction. Connor walked into the room. Eve stood in the doorway as Connor confronted the man.

"Like Eve said before you came in and started to rip the place apart, there is a method to Wolfram and Hart's madness. If you kill me, you will disrupt it. I pay my taxes and I'm part of the system. I can do anything that I want. You are nothing, but a vigilante." Webb's distain dripped like oil into the tension.

"There is more to me than meets the eye." Connor made his way to Webb and placed his foot just on the edge of his chair. "What about you?" With all of his strength, Connor pushed Webb's chair. With a resounding crash, Webb's chair shattered the window and plunged down the side of the building, carrying the man with it. Connor stood in the conference room until he heard Webb's screams stop. Walking over to the broken window, Connor looked down. All that he saw lying on the pavement was a broken office chair. He backed away from the window and looked back at Eve, who had just gotten off of her cell phone.

"He will see you now." Connor followed Eve down the hallway and into the office of the new President and CEO of Wolfram and Hart.

"Thanks for the information, Lindsey."

Lindsey McDonald turned his chair to face Connor. "Here is the rest of the information on Joseph Webb. It should be sufficient in making a believable case file."

"Why did Webb come after me? That's the only part that I don't get."

"Webb was a vampire that Angelus sired only a few decades before Drusilla. The only reason that I can guess is that Webb felt that your father had damned him."

"Now that my father is gone, I have to pay for his past mistakes." Sarcasm crept into Connor's voice, "isn't that a comforting thought..."

"We're still trying to find out what happened to Angel."

"I know, Lindsey. Thanks." Connor left Lindsey's office and headed out of the law firm.

Spike watched over Sarah and Jason as they talked to Nina. They were sitting at Connor's kitchen table. He listened as Jason gave Nina advice on trying to control the beast within. Connor heard the tail end of their conversation as he came down the stairs into the underground apartment. Seeing that Connor was detached from the group, he decided to take a seat next to Connor at the bottom of the stairs. "How are they?" Connor inquired.

"Doing just fine. Turns out that Jason knew about being a werewolf all along. The only thing that he couldn't remember was Webb taking control of him. He's talking to Nina about helping her control herself so that her change isn't governed by the lunar cycle." Spike turned toward Connor, who leaned up against the wall with a look of defeat on his face. "What's crawled up your ass?"

"I'm just thinking about my destiny. I was born to bring Jasmine into this world and to kill Sahjhan. I've done those things. So, what now?"

"I bet with your new life, Angel also gave you a new destiny. Or, now that your destiny has been fulfilled, you can do whatever you bloody well please. What you did today for those kids was a good thing, Connor. Who cares what destiny we have?" Spike patted Connor on the back and then moved to claim the last seat at the kitchen table. Connor knew that Spike was right. Screw fate and destiny, he would make his own.


	2. Lost Souls

Episode 2: Lost Souls 

Disclaimer: Joss is god and Angel is his creation.

Teaser

Los Angeles Memorial Hospital, 2004

As Lindsey slipped in and out of consciousness, he could hear the doctor's working to save his life. He had no idea how long he had been there or even how he got there, but he was happy to see that Lorne hadn't... that he was still alive. When he had fully regained consciousness he saw Eve sleeping in a chair next to his hospital bed. It wasn't that hard to wake her up, with just a deep breath Eve was at his side. "Are you feeling any better?"

"I think that the morphine is starting to wear off, so I'm starting to feel the gun shots. What happened with the Senior Partners?"

Eve knew that Lindsey had been a part of fighting the Black Thorn, but she didn't know how he would feel about the outcome with the Senior Partners. "Angel and his friends killed a few of the Senior Partners, but Gunn eventually died from his wounds the Congresswoman dealt him. The dragon took out Illyria. Spike survived and Angel has disappeared. No one knows where he is."

Lindsey wasn't that surprised to hear about Team Angel's demise. He knew that the Senior Partners were extremely powerful. But one thing stuck him as odd. He wondered what had made Angel disappear. He could have been staked and they hadn't found his ashes, but with the respect the Senior Partners had for him, that wasn't likely. "You shouldn't worry about the Senior Partners. With the slaughter of the Black Thorn and then the battle with Angel's crew, their "Apocalypse" has been set back decades." Eve leaned closer to Lindsey and kissed him.

She was grateful to have him with her again. She had been worried about what had happened to him after the battle with the Senior Partners. Angel hadn't told her anything about what had happened. For hours she had been left in the dark. "How did I get here in the first place?" Lindsey gave Eve another puzzled look.

"I'm not sure. I just got a call a couple of hours ago saying that you were in the hospital. Did you list me as your next of kin?"

"No, but that wouldn't be a bad idea." So many things were still a mystery to Lindsey, but he couldn't concentrate on that now; he had no time. What he had to do now was concentrate on getting better. Lindsey knew it was late, so both he and Eve decided to get some rest.

Lindsey woke up in a cold sweat in his apartment in the building of Wolfram and Hart. He had taken Angel's old living quarters after Lindsey took over as president and CEO of the law firm. He got up from his resting place and headed over to the kitchen. He had to cool down. The clock on the microwave clock beeped as it changed over to 4:00 AM. He knew that he should have still been asleep, but he just couldn't sleep; still on the strange internal clock Angel had forced on him. He grabbed a glass of water and downed it in one gulp. As soon as he put the glass down he realized that Eve was standing in the threshold of the kitchen looking at Lindsey with concern. "What are you doing up so late?"

"Couldn't sleep." He set the empty glass in the sink. "I don't know what it is. I just can't seem to get any decent sleep." From the look on her face, he guessed that Eve was still worried about him. She had been ever since Lorne... since he had been in the hospital. He gave her a reassuring kiss and headed back to the bedroom. "We should try and get as much sleep as we can. We have a big day at the firm tomorrow." Eve followed him silently. Even though she closed her eyes, she wasn't asleep. She was too stressed over what had happened to Lindsey. She had almost lost him once and she wasn't going to lose him again.

It was only a few hours later that the two of them went down to work in the law firm. Everyone was hustling and bustling, as they got ready for the meeting with Dorian Black, a very influential force in Los Angeles. Lindsey sat at his desk swamped with preparations for the big day. "Are you busy?" Connor was poking his head into the office. Connor could have just gotten rid of him, but instead the boy had joined forces with Lindsey and the law firm. Lindsey motioned for Connor to sit.

"I have the information that you want about the Jiom Tam demons. They are native to China. Our team has found out that a local trading company has smuggled them in as cheap labor. They are basically gentle giants. They mean no harm to anyone."

"Thanks for the information Lindsey. I'll just get out of your hair. From the amount of papers on your desk, it looks like you're going to be having a busy day."

"You don't know that half of it." Connor departed from Lindsey's office, while Lindsey got ready for Black's visit to the firm.

Act 1

Connor relayed the information about the demons to Spike and Nina. "So we don't have to go and do this right away 'cause I don't want to end up a crispy critter just for some demons." Spike said.

"Well, that's a good point. We can't go up against a whole company alone. However, we do have to scout the place. We'll leave a half an hour before sunset. It should be dark by the time that we get to the docks. Nina, you should go to Jill and Amanda before then. You don't want them to ask too many questions about what you are doing."

"You should do the same thing Connor. We want to keep up appearances with our family." Nina headed out of the offices and left Spike and Connor alone. Spike could hear Connor flipping the pages as he finished reading the pages. Spike started tapping his foot. He was getting restless, and he wanted Connor to know. Spike saw Connor's eyes lift from the book and he got the impression that Connor was getting irritated by the constant tapping. Connor slammed the book down. "Damn it, Spike!"

"Ain'tchu gonna do what th' lady said?"

"Whatever. I'll see you later."

Spike grunted a goodbye as Connor headed out of the offices.

Lindsey waded through the papers that had piled up on his desk. Black was creating a fuss throughout the building. He had only met Black once before; Dorian had helped Lindsey get established as the new President and CEO of the law firm's Los Angeles offices. Lindsey knew that Dorian had a great amount of pull within the law firm. After a few hours of signing and going through papers, Lindsey could hear the small creek in the door. He looked up to see Eve enter his office.

"Black's people have called. He'll be here in about an hour."

Lindsey sighed. He couldn't wait for this to be behind him. He mashed the button on his intercom.

"Hello, Mr. McDonald. How may I help you?" His secretary was perky, as usual. Had to be something in her water.

"Will you please send a limousine to the airport to pick up Mr. Black?"

"Yes sir. I'll get right on that." Lindsey lifted his finger and looked back at Eve.

"Has everything gone on schedule?"

"Everything's fine, Lindsey." Eve walked over to him and sat on his desk. "Are you going to be alright? I know that Dorian's visit is stressing you out, but it shouldn't. He has enough pull with the Senior Partners to get you your job back and then some."

"I'm just lucky that he liked me when I worked on his case a few years back. I would probably be dead right now if it weren't for him." Lindsey got up from his seat and leaned against his desk next to Eve. "You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine."

"I don't know Lindsey. Ever since that day in the hospital you have seemed distant. You can't blame me for worrying."

Lindsey's mind flashed back to the final battle of Wolfram and Hart. The last thing that he remembered was Lorne... was him waking up in the hospital. Lindsey had no idea how he had survived the encounter. After he had taken over the law firm, he used all his power to look into what had happened, but his medical files gave no indication. Brushing aside doubts, he leaned over to Eve and kissed her. "We should get back to work."

Eve kissed him back and headed out of the office. She knew that her words had no power over him, and that he was going to be nervous until Dorian left Los Angeles again.

After turning off the engine, Connor sat in the driveway of Colleen and Lawrence Riley. He remembered everything that happened as Angel's son and as the person who the Riley's knew. Things had become confusing when he started to remember his past life. At least I have some direction now, Thanks to my father, I have a lot more than I ever thought that I deserved. Connor got out of the car, walked up the drive, and knocked on the door. It didn't take long for Colleen to answer it. She threw her arms around her son and ushered him into the house.

"So how is everything going? We haven't heard from you in a while."

"Everything's fine, Mom. I just thought that I would visit you all. Where's Dad and Kathy?"

"Your father's at work and Kathy is around here somewhere." Colleen smiled, and sat him down in the living room. Connor and Colleen talked about what was going on in their lives. As Connor spoke, he left out any mention of the supernatural; no need to burden her. They visited with each other until the sun began to set. It was time to head back to Angel Investigations. Connor and Colleen hugged and Colleen watched as Connor got back in his car, started the engine and left her alone in the house. Colleen watched him drive off into the sunset. Connor wasn't opening up to her like he used to, but that's a part of growing up. She finished loading the dishwasher, and set it. When she turned around, Colleen saw her daughter standing in the doorway. "What's wrong honey?" Colleen got closer to her daughter. She had a strong feeling that something was wrong. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach. "Kathy..." Kathy wrapped her arms around her mother. Colleen could feel the icy cold grip of her daughter and then a stabbing pain in her back. Colleen could feel her lifeblood dripping out. As the world went black, she croaked out a final word. "Why?"

Kathy watched as Colleen's body fell to the floor. She calmly washed off the blood that covered the knife and her hand. Gripping the gleaming knife, she took a few more steps into the house and then called out, "Daddy, where are you?"

Act 2

As Nina opened the door of Angel Investigations, she realized that she was the only one there. Connor and Spike must have gone to deal with the demons. Nina thought to herself. She wasn't used to being alone in the offices, but she would have to entertain herself while the other two were away. The door creaked as Nina closed it and then locked up. As she made her way to the underground apartment, she could hear every single step that she made. With the lack of sunlight, Connor's apartment seemed a little more spooky than usual.

Nina put her things on the small dining room table that Connor had and then made her way over to the television. After turning it on to some terrible sitcom's commercial break, a breaking news report burst across the airwaves. "Earlier today, a local man came home today to find that his wife had been brutally murdered. Authorities aren't talking, but independent sources have confirmed that the victim is Colleen Riley, a local teacher here in Los Angeles. For more information, stay tuned; the news is next."

The remote slipped from Nina's hand as she watched Lawrence Riley, Connor's father, walking across the screen. She didn't know if Connor knew about the news, but she did know that he didn't want to hear it from the evening news. Nina bolted back to the kitchen table and yanked her cell phone from her purse. After dialing Connor's number, she pleaded with him to pick up.

As Connor wiped the blood off of his sword onto a rag, he could hear the tune of his cell phone. "Aren't you going to answer that bleeding thing?" The constant ringing was annoying Spike, but he called it vengeance for the foot-tapping this afternoon. Besides, answering wasn't important. He was sure anyone who would be calling him at this hour was a case.

Spike tossed him the phone. "It's Nina, wanker. Answer it."

"Yeah?" Nina's voice spilled out of the phone so fast, he couldn't hear a thing. "What? Slow down. I can't understand you."

"Connor, I just saw it on the news. It's horrible! Who could have done it?"

"Saw what? You're not making sense!"

"It's your mother. She was found murdered. It looks like the police are taking your father down for questioning. You should get down there."

Connor couldn't believe what he had just heard. It didn't take him long to realize that Spike was staring at him. Connor realized that he must have looked terrible.

"What's wrong with you, besides the obvious?" Spike had closed the trunk of Connor's car and was waiting for an answer.

"We have to head over to the Riley's." Connor wasted no time. He had to find out what had happened.

"You still haven't answered my question."

"Someone killed my mom."

Spike stopped just as he was about to get into the car. He knew how much the Riley's meant to Connor. He had no idea who would have harmed them, but he knew that Connor wasn't going to rest until the killer was found. Spike slid into the passenger seat and pulled the door tight into the car. The two of them sped through the Los Angeles traffic as fast as they could.

Lindsey, Eve and some of the lawyers at Wolfram and Hart greeted Dorian as he came through the front door of the law firm. Dorian had been an imposing force at Wolfram and Hart for years, as sway with the Senior Partners proved. Lindsey was the last person to shake Dorian's hand. "Good to see you old friend." Dorian spoke with in crisp, clean English, replete with Oxford diction. Every word that rolled off his tongue showed his age and wisdom, even if his physique did not. Dorian looked as if he was Lindsey's age, possibly even younger. However, Lindsey knew not to judge things by how they appear, especially in Los Angeles.

"I'm glad that you could make it Mr. Black. We have been looking forward to your visit."

"I can see that." Dorian looked around the lobby of the law firm. There were several of the employees that Dorian had never seen before. "You did not have to get out all of the lackeys for me, Lindsey. And it is just Dorian, thank you."

"We're not all lackeys, Dorian." Eve stood next to Lindsey and laced her fingers in between Lindsey's fingers.

"I did not mean you, my dear." Dorian took the young woman's free hand and kissed the top of it. Eve was very impressed with Dorian. She only knew what Lindsey had told her, which wasn't much.

"Shall we go some place else, Lindsey? I would feel more comfortable talking to you about these matters in a more private venue."

"That will be just fine." Lindsey kissed Eve on the cheek and sent her back to work. The two associates headed into the CEO's boardroom.

"What do you want to talk about Dorian? You didn't just fly thousands of miles to chat did you?"

"I do not chat, Lindsey. You know that. I need to discuss with you this boy." Dorian placed his briefcase on Lindsey's desk and took a file out of it. After taking it from Dorian, Lindsey looked at whose picture graced the first page of the file. "He has killed many of my employees lately and I was curious if you have any information on him."

"He's Connor. Angelus' son."

Dorian didn't seem too surprised by this revelation. And I thought the knowledge of a child of two vampires' would get some type of reaction. It surely did when we first found out about it. "You know about Angelus and Darla's child, don't you?"

"News travels fast; the only thing that puzzles me is how he got to be 24 when he is supposed to be 7 years old."

"He grew up in an alternate dimension." Dorian nodded his head in agreement. Obviously, thought Lindsey, he knows how these things work.

"Do you know if I will be able to speak to him? I should like talk to him myself, rather than sending out your special task force to deal with him."

The doors of Lindsey's office opened to reveal Eve walking into view without any warning. "I think that you should look at this." Eve tool Lindsey's television remote off of his desk and turned on the television. The same report that had come on only a few seconds earlier at Angel Investigations graced the screen of the television.

"I think I know where to look for him." Dorian pulled his briefcase shut. "I shall see you later Lindsey. I must tend to this."

"I understand, Dorian. I'm glad that you could come to see us." The two gentlemen said their good-byes and Dorian headed back to his limousine.

Act 3

The childhood home that Connor remembered growing up in was covered with yellow police tape. As Connor and Spike entered the home, it looked so different from the humble domicile Connor had left hours before. Blood was splattered everywhere. The police had left very little for the two detectives to search through. Connor held back the urge to throw up. The smell of his mother's blood was strong and almost overwhelmed him.

He headed into the hallway that lead to the bedrooms and bathrooms of the house; something was odd here. As he looked closer at the lower part of the walls, Connor could see deep groves. As he examined them closer, it became obvious that they weren't done by a normal animal. A very large demon must have been here for some reason. As he was about to head into his sister's room, he heard the back door shut. Who else could be here?!

"Hello, Keorvis-Dal." A young voice said; Connor recognized it as his sister. He sprinted to the kitchen, where she was seated. A strange man was standing by the stove, and both were looking at him. As he got closer, Connor could see a knife in his sister's hand.

"What are you doing with that?"

"Oh, hello Connor. Do you know where Lawrence went?"

"That's not your sister." The strange man spoke in cultured English; a sharp juxtaposition from Spike's harsh Cockney. "Would she have killed your mother if she was?"

"It was..." Connor couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had guessed "Kathy" wasn't his sister. He knew his sister all too well. She would never have called her father or himself by their proper names; always "Daddy" or "big brother". Had this... imposter done this to his family? Connor was getting tired of demons infecting people that he cared about. "How could you do this?"

"I'm a demon. What do I care? I know who you are. Those stupid vampires that worship you, calling you the miracle child. What a disappointment you were. Angel was the true hero and all you did was bring a former power to earth to enslave humankind."

Connor balled up his fist even tighter, feeling his finger nails digging into the palm of his hand. He didn't know who this demon was but he sure knew enough about him. "What do you want with me?"

"The same thing that most demons want. To make your life miserable. You fight on the side of good which makes you an enemy. It's nothing personal really. Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim."

Connor's eyes wandered over the kitchen and spotted the knife rack.

"Don't even think about that. I would kill you before you even got into the kitchen."

"You are forgetting me, Sechial. What about me?" The strange man was suddenly on top of the demon, and had it pinned to the ground, but something was happening. Kathy's body was shifting into what looked like the thing that could have made the scratches in the wall. The demon threw the man against the other wall of the kitchen and raised itself up. It looked like a cross between a gargoyle and a lion. As it made its way over to Connor, he could see the demon's claws digging into the ground. Connor could feel his stomach doing back flips inside him as the demon closed in.

"Aww. The intoxicating smell of fear." The demon slowly advanced on Connor. As it raised its talons to attack, Connor could hear a grunt coming from Spike as he jumped on the demons back and wrapped his arms around the demon's neck. "Vampiric pest." The demon tried to grab Spike, but the vampire kept just out of the demons reach. Connor saw his chance to attack the demon. Connor lunged at the demon and caught it in a tackle. The demon almost fell over, a low guttural growl coming from deep within its throat. Snapping back to its feet, the demon flipped Spike over his head and into Connor. The two men sprawled out on the floor. The demon bared its fangs and started towards them. Connor began to tremble, as all hope of escape drained out of him. They were done for.

Suddenly, the man was in front of them. From somewhere, he had found a sword. "This is your last chance, Sechial. Yield or be cast back into the Abyss." The demon roared in frustration, and shifted back down. The girl who had been Kathy glared angrily at the man, and stalked out the back door.

As she left, Spike got up off of Connor and helped the boy to his feet. "Who the bloody hell are you?"

"My name is Dorian Black. I cannot tell you more than that, not now. But now that I know who you are, and that you...," Dorian nodded towards Connor's direction, "...will be seeing more of me." Dorian headed out of the front door. Spike jumped over the bloodied table and tried to catch up with Dorian, but as he reached the front door Dorian was nowhere in sight.

"I really hate all of this cryptic bullshit." Spike was frustrated with the whole situation. He looked back over at Connor who was now kneeling over the chalk tracing of his mother's corpse. Spike knew that it must have been hard for Connor. He lost almost everyone that he cared about in one day. The vampire made his way back over to Connor. "We need to head over to the police station to see how your father is doing." Spike helped Connor to his feet and the two of them left the house.

It didn't take them long to get to the LAPD station. As Connor made his way inside, he could see Lawrence sitting in the precinct. Lawrence met Connor in the middle and wrapped his arms around Connor. "I can't believe what has happened." Connor could feel Lawrence start to choke up. Connor closed his eyes and stood there with Lawrence Riley for what seemed like hours. It wasn't until a police officer spoke that Connor snapped out of it.

"Your alibi checked out. You are free to go, Mr. Riley."

"Thank you so much."

"Don't worry. We will find your wife's killer." Connor sighed at the cop's statement. Colleen's killer was still out there and in the stolen body of his sister. Connor lost almost everything that Angel had given him, almost.

"You can come home with me, dad."

"Thanks, Connor."

Lindsey leafed through files that littered his desk, when Eve stepped into his office. "Any news from Dorian?"

"He called the front desk a few minutes ago. He left a message that he was leaving and that he had to leave so fast, but he had to check into something that came up."

"I'm not that surprised. Something is always coming up with him."

"See all that worrying just for a short visit. I told you that you shouldn't stress over it." Eve had come right next to Lindsey.

"I know I should listen to you more." Lindsey rose to his feet and kissed Eve. "Maybe we should stop working." He kissed her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Maybe we should." She kissed him back. The two of them made their way to the elevator and up to their apartment to settle down for the night.

17


	3. Reflections

Angel Investigations: The Next Generation 

Episode 3: Reflections

Teaser

Nina walked into the main building that housed several businesses along with Angel Investigations. As soon as she got to the door she noticed that someone hadn't picked up the mail. As she picked it up she could see that they were mostly bills. Just what Connor needed. Then she found a letter addressed to Connor, but with no return address.

As she opened the door she saw Spike sitting at the office desk. "Do you know where Connor is?"

"Most likely downstairs being like his father."

"Aww. Brooding." Nina put her purse down on the desk and headed down to the underground apartment. As she made her way down the stairs, she found Connor sitting in a very dimly it room while reading a book. "What are you reading?"

Connor looked up from his book and looked up at Nina. "I was just trying to figure out what kind of demon killed Kathy." Nina gave a sigh at Connor's comment. She knew that losing his mother and sister was taking a toll on him.

"Well I got the mail. It mostly looks like bills." Nina handed the envelopes over to Connor and watched as he leafed through them. "There was one letter that had no return address. I'm not sure what that's about." Nina sat down next to Connor as he opened up the letter. After a few moments of reading Connor folded up the letter and got up from his seat. "So anything important?"

"We're moving."

"Moving? To where?"

"I had one of my contacts looking into getting the Hyperion, and it looks like the deal finally got through." Nina was a little bit happier about the news. "Angel told me about the Hyperion. It used to be a hotel, right?"

"Yes, and then when Angel got the paranoia demon out of it, the hotel became Angel Investigations." Connor paused for a moment as he heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

"About bleeding time." Nina and Connor could hear Spike's comment. "Now at least I don't have to make my home in a sewer."

Connor shook his head at the vampire. "You could have just stayed here."

"Oh right. That would happen." Spike made it to the bottom of the stairs and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "So when are we moving?"

Act 1

Connor and Spike started packing up the underground apartment, while Nina started to pack up the desk. The only sound that they could hear was the shuffling of boxes and other things that were inside the apartment. After a few boxes were packed, Spike asked Connor, "How do you know if the letter is from your contact or not?" He picked up the letter and looked over it. "How do you know if it isn't from a demon trying to lure it into a trap?"

"I recognize the handwriting. Will you hand me another box?" Spike grabbed a brown cardboard box and gave it to Connor. He figured no matter how hard he tried, Spike wasn't going to get any information out of Connor. They continued packing in silence.

Nina had cleared out most of the desk drawers, when the door of Angel Investigations creaked open. Nina looked up from her task and saw Jason. "Hi. I didn't expect to see you again."

"I just wanted to thank you all for helping Sarah and me. So, how's it going?"

"Fine, I tried those techniques to shift on my own, but I still haven't managed to change at will."

"I could take you to someone that might be able to help. He trained me and was my mentor when I went through my first change."

"That would be great, but I'm sorta packing up the office so that we can move our business." Nina heard Jason take a deep breath in defeat of helping her but then he came back with a suggestion.

"I could help. It would go a lot faster and then I can help you with controlling your shifting."

"That sounds just fine. Why don't you start by putting the files in boxes?" Jason went over to the file cabinet and started to put the files in boxes. It didn't take the two of them long to get ever thing packed up and ready to move over to the Hyperion. "You were right. It did take less time to pack with more than just me." Nina paused for a moment and looked around the offices. She could believe that they were moving out of the offices that they had started in. I guess it's better to have more space, but who gave Connor the Hyperion? Nina turned her attention back to Jason. "I'll be back up in a sec. I need to tell the guys that I'm leaving."

As she made her way down the steps, Nina could see Spike and Connor still diligently packing up Connor's apartment. She cleared her throat, which got their attention. "I'm going out. I'll see you guys later. Just call me if you need anything."

"Alright." Connor was relieved to see that Nina was getting out of the building. It didn't take Spike and himself to get back to work. As the two of them worked in silence, Connor thought about the time when Angel had come to visit him just before the big battle with the Senior Partners and The Circle of the Black Thorn. Connor had told his father that the fighting was not for him, but now he had seemed to follow in his father's footsteps. Connor knew that it was important to help whenever he could, but some times he questioned it all. With the death of his mother and sister, Connor didn't know if all of it was worth the people that he had lost in his life. Cordelia had been the one person who was honest and kind to him. He had missed everyone so much.

As he filled another packing box, Connor heard someone enter the apartment from the elevator. Connor looked up to see Lawrence Riley. "Hello, dad. What are you doing here?"

"It's time."

Connor took a deep breath and looked over to Spike. "Don't worry I can handle it. Go with your father." Connor grabbed his jacket and headed out with Lawrence. The two of them were silent as they made their way to the graveyard. Connor stood only a few feet from Colleen and Kathy's graves. He stood there with the rest of his fake family and listened to the minister as he said a prayer for the two of them. Connor stared off in the distance thinking about the demon that had tried to ruin everything. Why would he just do that? And who was Dorian? He had so many unanswered questions, but he knew that none of them were going to be answered this second. The prayer had finished and Colleen and Kathy's bodies were cast into the ground. Connor walked with his father over to the rest of the vehicles and said his goodbyes to Lawrence and the rest of his family.

As Connor looked back at the rows of graves, he remembered others that were put to rest in the very same plot of land. He watched as the cars drove off and left nothing but exhaust behind. Connor made his way back to the headstones. As he made his way through the rows, he just past by the names that he didn't know. It was only a few moments later that he came to the four graves that he recognized. Connor stood at the foot of one of the graves while he read the names to himself. Winifred Burkle, Charles Gunn and Wesley Wyndam-Pryce were placed side by side and then Connor's eyes came to rest on the last grave, Liam Angel. Lindsey had found a way to make fake identification papers for Angel before they took care of the funeral. Connor could feel a sinking feeling begin to manifest in his stomach. He had felt so guilty about their deaths, especially Fred's. If he hadn't given Angel a reason to go to Wolfram and Hart, none of this would have ever happened. Connor knew that if anyone else knew how he felt that they would tell him different. He knelt down and thought about how everything had changed. He closed his eyes for just a moment and then realized that he wasn't alone.

"How long have you been standing there?" Connor got to his feet and turned around.

"Only a few minutes. Lindsey sent me to look over you. I'm sorry about your mother and sister." Eve was dressed from head to toe in black.

"Did you go to the funeral?"

Eve nodded and came closer to Connor. "It will be alright. Everything is going to be alright." She ran her fingers through his hair putting it behind his ear. Eve knew that he was going through so much at that moment. It had upset Eve when she lost her position as a liaison, but she had realized there was so much more to life than being what she once was. Lindsey had taught her so much about being human. The two of them walked back to Connor's car and said their goodbyes. Connor knew that Spike would have some questions about what had taken him so long.

Nina and Jason walked down the sidewalk of Los Angeles to a small meeting place. As she walked further with Jason, she could feel butterflies buzzing through out her stomach. She had no idea where Jason was going to take her. Nina had wanted to control the werewolf within. She felt as if she was useless in battle. She wasn't a vampire or some vampire hybrid that had some special destiny. It wasn't her choice to become a werewolf. Nina had been attacked and then put her family's life in danger. She had wanted to rip her niece's throat out the following day after her attack. If Angel hadn't stopped her, Nina might have done something that she would have regretted.

Jason took her through the doors of his mentor. As Nina walked into the building, she saw several other people in the building. Some of them acknowledged Jason, but most of them stayed busy with their own business. Jason led Nina to a small office on the second floor of the building. After knocking on the door, Nina could hear a voice beckoning them to come inside. Jason opened the door and allowed Nina to enter before entering himself. An older man sat behind a desk.

"Vincent, this is Nina." Vincent rose from his desk and shook Nina's hand.

"She's the one that you have told me about?"

"Yes." Nina could see that Jason blushed, a little.

"You should come with me, Nina. You have much to learn." Vincent walked out of his office and headed down a long hallway. Nina had no idea what was going to happen, but she knew that Jason had the best of intentions.

Connor made his way down to his underground apartment. Spike was sitting in the living room surrounded by boxes. "Did everything go alright?"

Connor didn't know what to say to him. He was feeling such fear and anguish. How could a demon just kill so many people that he loved? "Fine." Connor took his coat off and set it down the chair next to Spike and then sat down in the same chair. "We should probably get these boxes over to the Hyperion."

"I put all of the bleeding stuff away..." Connor could tell that the vampire was exhausted. The two of them sat in silence until Connor was ready to load up his car with boxes that were full of his things. He took the short drive over to the Hyperion Hotel. After putting his car into park, Connor looked up at the massive hotel. He remembered every thing that had happened in the massive building, so many lies and deceit. He took a deep breath and headed inside of the hotel. The hotel had been cleaned up since the last time that he saw it.

All of the camera crews and all of the followers that had flocked to Jasmine and her promise of peace and serenity. Connor walked through out the hotel before he started to place his things in one of the rooms.

Act 2

Nina walked with Vincent and Jason until someone came running towards them. The young man had just enough breath to tell the three of them what had happened. "There has been an attack. The rest if the pack needs your help." Vincent, Jason and Nina wasted no time. They ran into the main lobby of the building where there were several demons attacking the various werewolves that Nina had seen earlier.

"This is your chance, Nina." Vincent looked down at her. Nina could feel her heart begin to beat at a faster pace as he said those words to her. Vincent went into the thick of battle while Jason hung back with Nina.

"Are you alright?"

"I've never really done this before. Spike and Connor are the demon fighters, not me."

"Don't worry Nina. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." His words stopped her heart from beating as fast, but Nina was still nervous. She had no idea how she was going to help Vincent and the rest of the pack. As Nina surveyed the room, she was able to spot a few weapons on a far wall. She looked back at Jason who was standing just next to her.

"We should probably get some of those." Jason nodded in agreement and the two of them started to head over to the weapons.

Connor sat down on one of the stools that sat in front of the main desk of the Hyperion hotel. He took a deep breath and looked around at the abandoned litter and whatever else wasn't taken after Jasmine's power had been destroyed. He knew that all of them had their work cut out for them. Not just with the clean up but with everything that was going to happen. Trouble had some way of always finding them. Connor felt that everyone that had was close to him got hurt. Kathy and Colleen didn't disserve what had happened to them. Demons were going to come after him and everyone that he loved. Connor knew that there was no way to stop them. No matter how much he fought, they would never stop. They would never be gone, but Connor had to try and help. It was what his father would have wanted. After taking a deep breath, Connor began to clear the trash that was strung everywhere.

Nina walked behind Jason as they made their way over to the weapons cabinet. Several of the pack had already changed and were fighting the demonic intruders. Nina watched as the carnage went on around her. They had reached the weapons, but before Nina could grab a sword the fledgling werewolf was flung into the action. I'm not cut out for this. Spike and Connor are the heroes, not me. Nina rose to her feet and found herself faced with a rather large demon. She had no idea how she was going to get herself out of this one, but Vincent must have had a reason for throwing her into the thick of things. This is a good way to learn a foreign language, but not how to defend yourself. I have to get Spike or Connor to teach me something if I ever get out of this alive. She could feel her breath and heart quicken as her eyes lay upon the demon that was going to attack her. Her eyes darted around the room, and Nina had a sinking feeling that she was alone in this. Everyone was busy with something else and had no time to help her, but she had gotten herself in this mess and she figured that she had better get herself out of it as well. The demon swiped his claws across her chest. Nina could feel the searing pain and then the warmth of her own blood as it stained her clothes. Nina couldn't let this one wound slow her down. Her attention never left the demon. As the demon brought his claws down one more time Nina was able to get out of the way before its jagged claws scraped against her skin. Nina had watched the demon as he tried to strike again. The demon stopped short and looked down as a long blade penetrated his lower abdomen. Then the blade was brought through the side of the demon causing him to almost be chopped in half. Nina looked at the person who took the demon's place. "Who are you?"

"Mr. McDonald." Vincent had come over to Nina and the man that had killed the demon.

"Thank you." Lindsey just nodded at Nina's gratefulness and turned his attention back to Vincent.

"I see that you have had some company."

"They were just leaving. We should go to the back office. It was nice to meet you Nina, but if you will excuse me I have some business to attend to." Vincent and Lindsey headed back into the main office. Nina looked around the room and realized that the attack was over, but her bleeding wasn't. Nina put pressure on the wound and walked over to Jason.

"I think I need some help."

"I'm so sorry for getting you into this. I had no idea that we were going to be under attack. I think that one of the female pack mates have a shirt that you can use." Nina could tell that Jason was truly sorry. She knew that he had no control over the situation. The two of them made their way back to a first aid room where another werewolf took care of Nina's injuries.

Spike had finally finished packing when Connor arrived back at the underground apartment. "What took you so bleeding long? Did you save the world from another apocalypse? You know that there is always another one of them around the corner."

"I was just thinking about everything that has happened over the past few years with Wolfram and Hart, and with my father." Connor walked further into the apartment and sat down on one of the boxes. "How did you know that I was Angel's son? I didn't think that my father would have been the one to tell you. Did Wesley or Illyria tell you?"

"Now you ask this?"

"I just never thought about it before. I don't remember meeting you until I saw you sparring with Illyria."

"You're right. The year before I was with Buffy and the Scoobies fighting The First." Spike paused for a moment trying to drudge up some of his past memories.

"I found out about you from Illyria... After Gunn was killed by the demons that had stormed towards us in the alley way it was only a matter of moments before we found ourselves severely undermanned and overwhelmed. I saw your father fighting before we got separated. As we fought, the dragon swooped in trying to take us out with its claws. I dodged it a few times, but Illyria wasn't so lucky. She got swept up in the dragons claws. I didn't see where the dragon took her after I was knocked out by a couple of the Senior Partners. I woke up to find the alley empty, except for Gunn's lifeless body at one end of the alley and Illyria at the other end.

"I managed to get over to Illyria before she died. She told me with her last breaths who you were and she made me promise to protect you. I'm not sure if it was just Illyria talking. I could feel Fred still in her as she talked to me. But that's in the past. We have to concentrate on the now. I finished packing. Now all we have to do is get all of this junk over to the Hyperion." Spike picked up one of the boxes that was closest to him and began to help Connor loading up the car. "You know it would help to have wolf girl here. Where the bloody hell is she?"

As Nina and Jason left the werewolves' haven, she thought about Mr. McDonald. Something irked her about the whole thing. "Jason, it's getting late and I still have to help Connor and Spike with moving into the Hyperion."

"I understand. I'll see you later."

The two of them parted ways and Nina made her way to the Hyperion Hotel. When she arrived at the hotel, Nina walked in on Spike setting up a couple of desks just behind the check-in counter. "So how is everything going?"

"Just peachy." Spike looked up from his work. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Where is Connor?"

"In the office." Nina's gaze traveled to the office not to far behind Spike. Nina walked into it finding Connor in the process of unpacking.

"Can I speak to you?" Nina could tell that Connor and sensed the same thing that Spike did earlier.

"Sure. What did you want to speak to me about?"

"I went with Jason to see his mentor. While I was there we got attacked."

"Are you alright?"

"I fine, but that's not the point. Vincent had a visitor after the fight. Vincent called him Mr. McDonald. I'm not sure who he is, but I get a strange feeling about him." Nina had expected some kind of response, but Connor had nothing.

"Bloody hell." Nina turned around and saw Spike not to far away from her. "Mr. McDonald? Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Lindsey."

"Who?"

"Lindsey McDonald was a lawyer at Wolfram and Hart. He was the one that freed my soul from the amulet that I used to help Buffy defeat the First. He wanted me to be the new champion and get Angel out of the way. I have no idea why he is back here. I thought that he would be long gone after the battle with the Senior Partners."

"Maybe we should ask him why he's back." Nina had a strange suspicion that it wasn't to give the three of them a pat on the back for surviving the fight.

"Do you two think that we should just go storming into Wolfram and Hart? With everything that has happened we can't afford to be pissing them off."

"Aren't you upset? They killed your father." Nina couldn't believe what she was hearing from Connor. She had been devastated when she had heard the news about Angel.

"Of course I am. Angel and I had finally come to an understanding and the Senior Partners took that away as fast as they gave it to me. I don't want to get involved with them and have something taken away from me that I care about. They have done that enough already. If you want to go I'm not stopping you, but I won't let you go in there alone. I can't risk losing anyone else." Connor fell into the office chair and buried his face in his hands. Nina knew that the subject of Angel and Wolfram and Hart was a sensitive one for all of them. Each and every one of them had lost someone very special to them.

"I'm sorry Connor, but we have to."

Connor raised his head from his hands and looked from Nina to Spike. "Then all of us will go. We have to stick together." The three of them left the office and grabbed a few easily hidden weapons. Nina could only hope that they would have no need for them.

Act 3

The three of them made their way through the parking garage of Wolfram and Hart. It didn't take them long to get to Lindsey's office. As Connor walked through the door, he started to reflect on everything that had happened in the office all those years ago. He had met Angel with a new perspective on life. Angel had sacrificed so much to give Connor the family that he so desperately wanted. The only reason that Angel had found himself at the law firm was Connor and everything that had happened to him. Connor had felt so lost at that point. Jasmine and Holtz had just used him for their own means and he felt as if nothing would ever be the way he wanted it to be.

Angel had changed all of that, but Connor felt as if he had to pay his father back by continuing to help people. He had to give people hope.

"What are you all doing here?" Lindsey stood in the doorway of his own office.

Spike grabbed Lindsey by the lapels of his suit and slammed him against the wall. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"What do you mean, Spike? I have always been here. I have never left. Now let go of me." Spike let Lindsey off the wall, but didn't let go of him.

"I think that you should leave Los Angeles before I really hurt you." Spike pushed Lindsey away from him letting go of his suit in the process.

"I can't really do that Spike." As Lindsey made his way to his desk he made his way, his and Connor's eyes met for just a second before Connor broke away from the lawyer's gaze.

"And why the bloody hell not?" Connor could hear Spike grinding his back teeth as his patience was leaving him.

"I don't think that Angel would appreciate me giving the law firm back to the Senior Partners."

Connor walked up to Lindsey and stood in-between the lawyer and the vampire. "What do you mean? The Senior Partners have nothing to do with Wolfram and Hart anymore?"

"Exactly. Even though most of the people that worked with your father were killed, the Senior Partners were still weakened from the battle. After I got out of the hospital, I was able to get in touch with some of my contacts that I had made while working for the firm. They helped me become the new president and C.E.O of the company. I have nothing to do with the Senior Partners. I'm actually trying to help you. You might not see that, but I don't want their apocalypse to happen as much as you do."

"They're still working on that?"

"I have no idea. No one has seen or heard from the Senior Partners ever since the battle with Angel."

The room fell silent as Spike, Nina and especially Connor thought about the information that Lindsey had just given them. _What had happened to the Senior Partners?_ "I think that we should go now. We can threaten Lindsey later." Connor's friends nodded in agreement and headed out of the offices of Lindsey McDonald and then out of Wolfram and Hart.

The ride to the Hyperion was silent. Connor knew that things had changed when he saw his father for the last time, but he had no idea to what extent. He knew that he had to find out what happened to the Senior Partners and his father.

38


End file.
